Who has been there so far?

I went last night, and was pretty impressed. They've got a long way to go working out the kinks, especially with the servers but I was expecting that, given the massive scale of the place. I think the space was beautifully designed and will be an amazing hangout spot when the outdoor weather is more agreeable. Lots of outdoor seating, retractable glass windows and doors should make it all very airy.

Tried a few beers last night that I had never seen/heard of before and was not disappointed. Probably heading back over again this weekend.

7/28/2015 9:35:22 AM

Yeah. Cool building. The staff needs a lot of work. I'd give it a few week before going back.

Did anyone else have a really hard time reading the video menu? Something about the font was messing with my eyes. Might just be me.

7/28/2015 9:46:00 AM

I'll probably check it out in a few months when it's not so crowded

7/28/2015 9:54:41 AM

Too big.

7/28/2015 9:55:06 AM

I went last weekend. They were at capacity by 6pm on Saturday so it was one in one out. It took forever to get a beer at the bar - literally 15 minutes each time. I had a group so we took turns getting everyone's orders. Also agree the menu tv's were difficult to read and they didn't really have enough paper menus out. We ended up looking up the menu on our phone to make sure we went to the right floor for what we wanted - they were already sold out of a lot of stuff.

With that being said, it's an amazing space. I love the trees inside. Great outdoor space - the back reminded me of a miniature version of the beer gardens they have in NYC. Nice menu and all the food I saw looked very good. It was also so packed that several different pairs of random people joined our table, which I think is cool if you're looking to meet new folks.

Can't wait til this place isn't the hot spot and I can get a casual beer there. Fayetteville St. was dead Friday and Saturday probably because everyone was there.

7/28/2015 9:55:49 AM

Quote :

"Yeah. Cool building. The staff needs a lot of work. I'd give it a few week before going back. "

This x 100

7/28/2015 10:46:02 AM

Going to the beach this weekend from Atlanta, and was thinking about stopping by the Beer Garden tomorrow night on my way through. How crowded is it on a weeknight? Just wanted to check it out since I don't come through that often.

7/28/2015 7:11:24 PM

Quote :

"Too big."

So was that boat. Stick to a pontoon for your party barge needs.

[Edited on July 28, 2015 at 7:48 PM. Reason : ]

7/28/2015 7:48:37 PM

The big problem I had waiting in line was these assholes wanting to sample stuff with 10 people waiting for a beer behind them. As a result, it was way too slow getting a beer. That and 2 Hofenbraus ran me $22.

7/29/2015 1:17:02 AM

^^

Seriously...the place is too fucking big. I don't think the keg/tap system to run a restaurant with that many beers exists right now. The logistics alone with keeping enough inventory, staffing enough people, and educating the staff to keep this place running well is pretty much impossible. Isn't one of CliffyB's partners a successful restauranteur? I would think he would have that figured out before tackling something like this, but initial feedback is already making that look suspect.

And people complaining that it's been too packed in the beginning...that place is going to need to stay packed to afford to stay open after the money they put into and the operating costs just to keep that many beers on tap.

Realistically bars should never have more than 30 or 40 beers on tap. I personally think 20 is the perfect number with a good bottle list if you want to offer more variety. Dealing with a lot of kegs isn't easy...or cheap.

7/29/2015 7:52:50 AM

^we've got Jon Taffer over here.

7/29/2015 8:57:42 AM

Truth hurts. Of course they're working out kinks, but with the owner's experience, your shit shouldn't be this bad (taken from Yelp):

Quote :

"I went on Friday evening and roughly only 55 beers were available according to their online site. Upon ordering from a list menu at the bar, they were out of the first four beers we requested. "

Saying you have 300+ taps but only 55 of them available is kind of ridiculous.

Quote :

"The bar seemed understaffed and the bartender forgot our beer orders hallways through serving additional patrons while we waited. "

Worst part about having a restaurant bar this big is that you ALWAYS have to have it staffed to handle big crowds just in case. What happens on a normal slow Monday night when a convention comes in town and everyone comes in? Or everyone leaves after local rec league softball night to come over on a Tuesday night and there's just a bartender or two per bar? Really big bars are the worst for bartenders because they're almost always over-staffed and the tip-splits suck. Hence, I doubt they'll be able to keep good bartenders. Although its interesting because every opening I've ever been a part of the bar has been extremely over-staffed. I'm surprised that a place like this would fuck-up on under-staffing the opening.

And keeping it staffed like that hits labor costs big time.

The rest of the reviews are pretty similar with some good ones sprinkled in. A massive place like that is always going to have some issues opening up...but you would think with the backing and pub it's gotten...that it wouldn't be as big of a disaster as what I've heard (I'm glad TKE-Teg had a good time though.

7/29/2015 9:26:36 AM

I haven't been but would like to now that some people have said positive things about it.

What really put me off from the beginning is that it looks like a ski lodge from the outside, which i don't find to be attractive at all ... honestly more of an eye sore in this locale.

7/29/2015 9:29:25 AM

is it like Duff Gardens?

7/29/2015 9:33:59 AM

I went Monday afternoon, was there from 4-6:30 and it really wasn't as busy an I thought it would be. We didn't have any issues getting drinks, and we downloaded the taphunter app to our phones so we could scroll through the beer list at our own pace and not stare at the screens. The food that other people ordered looked good too.

I went in not expecting a whole lot, given that they had to modify their hours this first week to try and work out the kinks, but it was better than I expected. One thing I will say is to keep an eye on how much the beers are, my sister in law ordered a pint of a red ipa and it was $8/pint. They also had a sour/tart beer on their menu that was priced at $10/10oz., that same beer is also on draft at a brewery up near my house for $4.50/pint.

7/29/2015 9:42:51 AM

Quote :

"One thing I will say is to keep an eye on how much the beers are, my sister in law ordered a pint of a red ipa and it was $8/pint. They also had a sour/tart beer on their menu that was priced at $10/10oz., that same beer is also on draft at a brewery up near my house for $4.50/pint."

I had seen some people complaining about the prices, so I checked their menu online. Maybe 1/3 of the beers had prices listed...and those were all pretty cheap/low. Pretty sketch not to list the prices of the expensive beers.

7/29/2015 9:51:54 AM

I'll check this out eventually, but for now I'll just enjoy the diminished crowds at Flying Saucer.

7/29/2015 10:08:21 AM

Jbrick's staunch critisim, all from hundreds of miles awayfrom the venue, has convinced me this place is terrible

7/29/2015 11:01:23 AM

I just have my doubts.

With that being said...I'd love to see their set-up. I can't imagine what their keg room[s] look like.

7/29/2015 11:07:50 AM

I'll post a more in depth review, and observations later, however I'd like to counter the people saying the beer is expensive. At least, the beers I ordered were relatively cheap.

$4.50 for a Brooklyn Soriachi Ace pint? Hell yeah!

$5.25 for Southern Tier Oranj Choklat, a 10% abv beer? I'll take that all day long.

$5.00 for Hacker-Pschorr Bavaria Dark Weiss pint. Sounds good to me.

If someone was seriously charged $22 for 2 Hofbrau's then looks like you were overcharged in some sort of error.

7/29/2015 11:51:45 AM

^ Maybe the guy in-charge of putting prices in the POS system is a fucking retard. I've seen people saying they were charged $6 for a Yuengling and $7.25 for a Pilsner Urquell. With prices from some of their other beers listed, it doesn't really make sense.

Quote :

"$5.25 for Southern Tier Oranj Choklat, a 10% abv beer? I'll take that all day long. "

Is that a full pint or a lesser (10oz maybe?) pour?

There's a great beer spot near me that does pretty much all 10-12oz pours for $4 and $5. I know its pretty much in line with $7 for a pint...but I like it because I get to try more beers for the same price. I'd rather spend less and try 4 or 5 beers than spend the same and only have three.

[Edited on July 29, 2015 at 12:22 PM. Reason : .]

7/29/2015 12:19:23 PM

Prices: http://theraleighbeergarden.com/menu/

Quote :

"Thank you to all of Raleigh for the overwhelming response in our few days open. It’s been utterly amazing to see everyone come out to the new Raleigh Beer Garden. We need to catch our breath and fix a few kinks in our processes. The hours of operation for Sunday July 26th through Thursday July 30th will be 4PM to 2AM. We will resume lunch service starting on Friday July 31st at 11AM closing at 2AM from then on. For those of you who have voiced concerns about volume of beer/freshness, etc. – we are confident by evidence of the amount of beer we have already gone through, that the beer will be fresh and the lines will be properly maintained to the highest level. Our online menu system is being updated and improved as this volume of beer in one venue is also the largest project they have ever worked on. Many details will be improved over the coming days. We look forward to serving everyone Sunday through Thursday for dinner and then back to lunches starting on Friday. Again, thank you Raleigh for the amazing response to our opening week."

7/29/2015 12:22:22 PM

^ There might be prices on half the beers.



Take that back...they're updating them by the minute it appears.

[Edited on July 29, 2015 at 12:51 PM. Reason : .]

7/29/2015 12:50:25 PM

Yeah some of them don't have prices listed. Online, or on the screens behind the bar.

Quote :

"Is that a full pint or a lesser (10oz maybe?) pour? There's a great beer spot near me that does pretty much all 10-12oz pours for $4 and $5. I know its pretty much in line with $7 for a pint...but I like it because I get to try more beers for the same price. I'd rather spend less and try 4 or 5 beers than spend the same and only have three."

Full 16oz pour. Which I found exceedingly hilarious, b/c when she first started serving us our waitress informed us that, due to NC law, any beer over 8% abv would come in a smaller, 10 oz glass. But when, 60 minutes later, I ordered my 10% beer she asked what size I wanted, and without hesitating I said 16 oz, haha.

7/29/2015 1:03:40 PM

Quote :

"Saying you have 300+ taps but only 55 of them available is kind of ridiculous."

That review jbrick quoted was from the night they opened. Probably should have made more available, but I don't feel too bad. I went last night and they had ~220 of them available, but some were running out or emptied while we were there. I watched how the staff works behind the bar--they have something on their phones that tells them where the beer is behind them I believe, or maybe they were just confirming they actually had the beer I ordered.

So I went on a Tuesday night about 9:30-12PM. Honestly I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. We managed to get a table (space opened up a lot after around ~11) when we got there in the picnic table space up front, which has some nice fans that keep the area nice. Big takeaway for me was that the space itself is beautiful--a lot of the sitting areas very a lot in size, atmosphere, noise, etc. I like the English lounge feel on the first floor, as well as the "real" beer garden style in the back. The roof bar looks like it'll be fun when it's open.Our table had food and it was all actually really good, and surprisingly well priced. They have their menu set up where basically everything is between 8-10 dollars which seems strange but whatever.

The bar is split so that the first floor is NC beers and the second floor is national/international. We stayed on the first floor and I was pretty pleased. Prices were all about what I expected--all in regular ranges 4.50-6. Had a few appalachian beers I'd never had.

I'll probably go back when the weather is a little cooler or when the crowds die down a bit... whichever comes first. They're going to need to stay packed to pay for that place. They have a LOT of staff, and the operations alone must be crazy.

EDIT: It's also a little over a mile from my apartment, so no complaints here.

[Edited on July 29, 2015 at 2:35 PM. Reason : f]

7/29/2015 2:34:09 PM

I'm more intrigued by seeing how the staff operates than the types of beer served

7/30/2015 8:52:50 AM

I just browsed through their German beer list, and they have some good ones, but no pils which is wierd. But the Uerige is one of the best beers in Germany, so I'd recomend it as well as the Einbecker Bock.

7/30/2015 10:09:15 AM

german beer is overrated, NC beer is better

7/30/2015 10:17:41 AM

Quote :

"If someone was seriously charged $22 for 2 Hofbrau's then looks like you were overcharged in some sort of error."

I forgot to mention in my initial post that my friends were complaining that they were being overcharged for beer. Like, the change they got back did not match the price they were supposed to pay. They figured that the bartenders must have been tipping themselves / imposing a 18% gratuity or something since the lines were so long but it was never explicitly stated anywhere that we were aware of.

I paid with my card and didn't have that issue, but they paid cash. It happened to both of them more than once.

7/30/2015 10:27:09 AM

I went last night and overall I was impressed.

The building itself is huge and sprawling with multiple settings to enjoy a beer. I felt as though a lot of thought went into dividing this huge space into many smaller places that make it feel like you could be in any other bar. It was LOUD inside which, among other things, eventually drove me out to the garden. The selection was expansive, obviously. Despite how crowded it was, I didn't have to wait more than a couple seconds to place my beer order and the beer came quickly. Waiting on payment took a little longer though as there seemed to be a bit of a log jam at the POS system. Payment was correct, so no problems like others have had.

The only gripe I had was that right next to the two main bars on the first and second floor they had all kinds of empty seating. But the moment a bar patron would sit down someone would come by to shoo them away if they weren't seated by a hostess. So, you're telling me that all these seats are reserved for people that want to sit and eat...at a beer garden...filled with hundreds of people that just want to drink? That was bullshit and I don't see how it's sustainable. If I'm on the second floor getting a beer, I don't want to have to walk up to the roof or down a floor and out to the garden to sit down. I want to sit right there!

Other than that I enjoyed it and will go back.

7/30/2015 10:41:37 AM

^Oh wow, I didn't realize that's why there were so many empty seats and tables. I sort of understand because logistically it would be hard to keep track of what tables are open or who has what sections, but yeah that does seem lame. They should have some sections where seating is just always open, like the small tables in the bar areas.

But I definitely agree with you about the breaking down the sections in neat ways. Overall I thought it was much cooler than what I expected a Glenwood South beer garden to look like. And it doesn't really have any competition in the immediate area for my coin anyway.

7/30/2015 12:28:28 PM

^^ Went last night too. I was with some buddies that I haven't seen in a while and they wanted to eat dinner, and the hostess told us it would be about an hour and 45 minutes to get seated. So if there is empty seats available then thats really weird. Went to Hibernian instead. Definitely plan on heading back there in a month or two when the "popularity" dies down some.

7/30/2015 1:13:25 PM

They have lots of empty tables because (from what I can tell) the servers and kitchen can't handle full capacity at the moment. When I went on Monday the hostess said there was a wait for a table (45 min) because the kitchen was maxed out.

I, too, sat down on some of those nice leather chairs downstairs only to be told those are for reserved seating only. There were empty tables all over the place while my group waited for a table.

Again, I chalk this up to the place being brand new and things not being in sync yet. I wasn't interested in food anyway, just beer, so I didn't care much.

7/30/2015 1:50:39 PM

Quote :

"For those of you who have voiced concerns about volume of beer/freshness, etc. – we are confident by evidence of the amount of beer we have already gone through, that the beer will be fresh and the lines will be properly maintained to the highest level"

Interested to know how they will accomplish this...what's the normal time for a keg to be tapped and sitting there? I assume a month or so? If it's a unique (i.e., not well known) beer are they going to be tossing out kegs?

If they have solved this issue with that many beers and without throwing away a bunch of stock that is really impressive.

7/30/2015 3:38:55 PM

I'd imagine that any beer starting to reach the end of it's "shelf life" will be put on special.

7/30/2015 4:17:55 PM

Hey all,

Appreciate the comments and feedback.

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2015/07/29/raleigh-beer-garden-working-on-issues.html?ana=twt

^^^ We're working on it.

Longer I've had these two establishments (Station and BG) with Niall the more I've learned about this business. In many ways it's similar to the gaming business. You need lots of great, quality "servers" upon launch or your customers can't enjoy what you've made.

Yes, it's big, but heck, seeing as we're hitting capacity on a regular basis clearly there was demand for such a location in town. Niall's a fantastic designer and he was going for "cozy as hell" when he put things together, and to that end, I think he succeeded.

Is 366 a challenge? Yes, but like Pixar says, if we're not a little nervous, we're not doing our jobs. First couple weeks of any establishment are always a bit tricky as you work through the MULTIPLE systems that make a machine like this, well, run well.

Hope to see some of your smiling, slightly hammered faces out there sometimes. I usually pop in on the weekends to check on things, beyond that, I have to trust Hibernian management and Niall's fantastic team to run things.

Still hiring, too, BTW.

7/31/2015 11:18:30 AM

So, maybe I am weird for noticing this, but the floor to the roof seems to be pretty bouncy. Might be because it seems like there is a wood platform atop the roof/floor up there, but I can't imagine how bouncy it will feel if the rooftop was full of people.

/engineer problems

7/31/2015 12:25:52 PM

Not carrying Raleigh Rum in the spirit lounge yet

/distiller problems

7/31/2015 2:55:08 PM

 

[Edited on July 31, 2015 at 3:05 PM. Reason : dp]

7/31/2015 2:55:08 PM

Went last night for happy hour. Place was pretty packed. Drank delicious beer and shrugged it off.

Going back Saturday night with a few friends (visiting from out of town).

7/31/2015 3:29:54 PM

Other than the servers still figuring things out when I went last Sunday, this place is fantastic. Although one thing absolutely has to change: if you're getting table service/waited 45 minutes to sit down, you should be able to order any drink in the whole place. Being told you can't order NC beer because you got seated on the second floor is bullshit.

7/31/2015 8:58:57 PM

Quote :

"Being told you can't order NC beer because you got seated on the second floor is bullshit."

do what now?

7/31/2015 9:00:46 PM

going again tonight, im going to really enjoy the paint drying. can really tell the paint drying.

[Edited on July 31, 2015 at 9:38 PM. Reason : really]

7/31/2015 9:38:26 PM

Think I might check it out this evening as well.

8/1/2015 11:03:22 AM

Quote :

"Being told you can't order NC beer because you got seated on the second floor is bullshit."

oh now that's just fucking lazy.

8/1/2015 11:52:33 AM

what? that doesn't sound like very good practice. (i understand if you are ordering from the bar or whatever)

do they also limit what food you get based on how close you are to the kitchen?

[Edited on August 1, 2015 at 12:46 PM. Reason : ]

8/1/2015 12:45:35 PM

That's my biggest gripe, you can't transfer your tab between floors.

8/1/2015 1:05:10 PM

^ This.

Went Friday early afternoon with a couple buddies and this place packed up fast. The first floor is where you'll find all your NC beers and the second floor is for everything else. At the moment you have to open a tab on each level in order to access all the beers. Thankfully we sat out in the backyard (which was awesome once the shade got in there) and since there's no real table service we'd just take turns buying beer for the table with a tab open on both levels.

Food was pretty good too. Those fried pretzels were awesome, though I feel like you could use more (or bigger) sauces for them since they're huge. We also split a pizza and the crostinis just to get a sample of their offerings and everything was pretty on point.

I wouldn't go out of my way to go here on a weekend since downtown is a bit of a destination for my group nowadays, but if we were heading down that way anyway I'd definitely suggest this place as a must-visit.

8/3/2015 7:59:39 AM

we went again Saturday evening and it was pretty crazy, but we got a seat outside and like ^ said, it was nice once the shade rolled in

This is my second time there and both times I had issues with my tab. The first time I caught it while I was there and got it resolved. This time I closed out my tab after every round, but after the 3rd round I decided to leave it open. When I went to close out my tab (2 beers ~ $11) the bartender said she couldn't find my name, so she would just charge me for the two cheapest IPAs on their list, wound up being around $10. Check my bank account the next day and I was charged for both rounds. Haven't called up there yet, and have a feeling it'll be more trouble than it's worth. Pisses me off because I wasn't at all in the wrong and told her the beers that I bought to help her locate my tab.

I would say to keep on eye on your shit, but I don't really know what else I could've done to keep it from happening, sooo yeah, I'll probably just stick to the brewery's and bottle shops closer to my house from now on

8/3/2015 9:05:12 AM

I went back again Saturday night late night, around 1am. Was downtown and planned to head over sooner, but while stopping by State of Beer for a round some guys I chatted up at the bar said the line for the beer garden was over a block long

Anyway, my group arrived just after 1 and I paid for the only round we had. $34 before tip for 4 beers When I saw that a pint of Yuengling was $6 I thought it was a misprint. That makes no sense. I knew that Schneider Aventius beer is never cheap, but I wasn't expecting it to be $11/pint. Ditto $8/ea for two Troeg's beers.

Oh well, guess I'll be asking for the cost of beers before ordering next time.

8/3/2015 9:21:56 AM